Without hesitation I would ask my mom to take me to Wingate’s Meat Market in Orange every single time we passed by which was at least twice a week.
And about once a month, she would relent.
It had nothing to do with their meat but because the owner Nick Wingate had an amazing taxidermy collection featuring mainly giant fish he had caught in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a hammerhead shark, tiger shark, grouper and a huge alligator fish along with a big buck that had been killed in Orange County. All of this blew my mind and allowed me to visualize things I wanted to do in the future.
Living in Orange, TX we would go to nearby Port Arthur or Beaumont about once every two weeks.
I remember visiting the K-Mart off Twin City in Port Arthur and seeing a full body standing brown bear and polar bear in a car dealership across the street.
Being a persistent kiddo, I begged my mom to take me in and was stunned at how big those bears were. I remember the gentlemen inside getting a kick out of a kid who wanted to come in just to see the bears.
My Dad took me fishing and hunting but my mom was equally important at feeding my love of the great outdoors by doing things like this.
If you continually feed an outdoor-loving child’s love of the great outdoors then you are planting seeds that will take root. The might get into other things that take precedent for awhile but the outdoors will always be there.
And in a day where kids can’t hide from bullying because it follows them home via Snapchat and other social media platforms, the outdoors is safe place. And sadly many kids have never experienced the pull of a redfish or hearing the sound of a gobbling turkey.
Do whatever you have to do to keep kids outdoors connected.
Give them your copies of Texas Fish and Game or give them their own subscription-perhaps turning them on to our digital edition so they can peruse on their smart phone or tablet.
Get them a CCA membership and connect them with conservation.
I’m living proof that it makes a huge difference in people’s lives.
Feed their outdoors need before someone else introduces them to things that lead them to destruction.
Chester Moore